Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) are methodologies for delivering data packets containing digital information representing an audio signal generated by a user of a wireless device during a voice call. The wireless device may be capable of wireless communication with one or more access nodes in a wireless network which is in further communication with a network such as the internet. In order to use VoIP or VoLTE, the wireless device must be near enough to an access node of the wireless network in order to initiate and maintain the wireless communication for transmission of data packets to and from the access node and thereby through the network. In various circumstances, a wireless device may begin a voice call in a weak signal area or it may begin the voice call in a strong signal area and subsequently move into a weaker area.
When a received signal level for a serving access node drops below a minimum threshold at a wireless device, call service may be degraded due to dropped packets intended for that device, and eventually a voice session may be terminated if packets continue to drop. However, when a received signal level is too low for voice service, it may still be sufficient for other data services, such as email, web browsing, or text. Data services may be measured by various metrics such as an average data rate. Applications that require smaller data rates may consume less network resources than those with larger data rates, which may lead to fewer dropped packets.